Deer Heart | Venison Heart
Indulge in the exquisite and savory delights of our venison heart recipe. This exceptional dish, renowned for its delicate and nuanced flavors and tender texture, elevates traditional meat cuisine to an art form.
Want to learn how to prepare deer hearts and make delicious steaks with them? You are in the right place. This recipe is incredibly easy and only takes a few minutes of your time.
The most important thing is to clean the heart well. If you do it right, you will end up with three lovely steaks.
Use this recipe for any wild game hearts, including deer, antelope, elk, and moose. You can even do the same thing with beef heart.
What you need
- Deer hearts: Clean them well and cut them into steaks. (See instructions below)
- Apple Juice: You can use either apple juice or apple cider for the marinade base. You can substitute a mild vinegar like white wine or red wine vinegar for the apple juice.
- Oil: Olive oil or vegetable oil can both be used.
- Worcestershire Sauce: This will add a bit of umami flavor to the marinade.
- Oregano: Either dried oregano or a sprig of fresh oregano are both good.
- Thyme: Again, either dried thyme or a sprig of fresh thyme can be used.
- Salt: Sea salt or kosher salt is the best.
- Black Pepper: Use freshly ground black pepper.
How to clean the heart and cut it into steaks
Step One:
You can see that the outside of the heart is completely surrounded by a thick membrane. The first job is to remove that.
Step Two:
Open the membrane with a very sharp knife. Cut it all of the way down and just slide the heart from out of the membrane.
Step Three:
Once the heart is removed, cut the membrane off.
Step Four:
Clean off the top of the heart by cutting a fresh cut.
You can see all of the chambers are full of blood.
Step Five:
Rinse the heart well inside and outside to remove all of the blood.
Step Six:
Cut off all of the fat and silver skin off of the muscle.
Step Seven:
You can see how clean the heart gets.
Step Eight:
Cut down through one of the chambers and open it like a book.
Clean up any fat, grizzle, or connective tissue.
Step Nine:
Flip the muscle over and cut through the other chamber. Open that like a book too.
Step Ten:
You will see that there are two obvious places to cut them into steaks. You end up with three large pieces.
One of the steaks will be thicker, and one will be considerably thinner.
After cutting the steaks, the meat can be frozen for about a month. It is recommended to cook it immediately for the best flavor.
How to marinate the steaks
We do a quick marinade to the meat for a bit of added flavor.
Step One:
Add all of the marinade ingredients to a medium bowl.
Step Two:
Mix well.
Step Three:
Add the steaks to the marinade. Marinate for one hour up to two days.
How to cook them
Step One:
Dry the steaks between sheets of paper towel.
Step Two:
Tenderize steaks with a blade-type meat tenderizer.
Add high-temperature oil to a cast iron skillet over high heat.
Quick sear the steaks over medium-high heat on both sides for 2-3 minutes per side.
Remember that the skinniest steak will take less time than the thicker steaks.
As with all very lean muscles of the deer, you want to either cook it low and slow or fast and hot, just for a couple of minutes.
Pro tips for your success
- Be sure to wash the heart thoroughly to remove all of the blood clots.
- Use a very sharp knife to remove the exterior membrane, fat cap, sinew, silverskin, veins, and arteries.
- Do not overcook the steaks, or they will become very tough and chewy. Cooking it to medium-rare (135°F/65°C) is suggested, but you could cook it to medium. Don’t cook it any hotter than 145°F/70°C.
How to store leftovers
Storage: Store leftovers well-wrapped in airtight containers for up to two days.
Freezing: Refreezing is not recommended. The texture will become quite chewy.
More unique venison recipes
- Smoked Venison Backstrap
- Venison Summer Sausage
- Venison Roast
- Corned Venison
- Venison Burger
- Venison Stew
Helpful tools
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As you savor the final bites of this beautifully seared deer heart, you’ll appreciate it’s unique combination of its tender texture and complex flavors. This recipe showcases venison’s versatility and provides a memorable culinary experience that celebrates the best of wild game cooking.
Venison Heart Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 deer hearts
- 1 cup apple juice
- ½ cup olive oil, or other mild oil
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon oregano, dried
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil or butter for searing
Instructions
To clean the heart
- You can see that the outside of the heart is completely surrounded by a thick membrane. The first job is to remove that.2 deer hearts
- Open the membrane with a very sharp knife. Cut it all of the way down and just slide the heart out of the membrane.
- Once the heart is removed, cut the membrane off.
- Clean off the top of the heart by cutting a fresh cut. You can see all of the chambers are full of blood.
- Rinse the heart well inside and outside to remove all of the blood.
- Cut off all of the fat and silver skin off of the muscle.
- Cut down through one of the chambers and open it like a book. Clean up any fat, grizzle, or connective tissue.
- Flip the muscle over and cut through the other chamber. Open that like a book too.
- You will see that there are two obvious places to cut them into steaks. You end up with three large pieces. One of the steaks will be thicker, and one will be considerably thinner. They will cook at different rates.
How to marinate the steaks
- Add all of the marinade ingredients to a medium bowl.1 cup apple juice, ½ cup olive oil, or other mild oil, 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon oregano, dried, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- Mix well.
- Add the steaks to the marinade. Marinate for one hour up to two days.
How to cook them
- Dry the steaks between sheets of paper towel.
- Tenderize steaks with a blade-type meat tenderizer. Add the oil or butter to a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.1 tablespoon oil or butter for searing
- Quick sear the steaks over medium-high heat on both sides for 2-3 minutes per side.
- Remember that the skinniest steak will take less time than the thicker steaks.
See all of my favorite tools and gift ideas on my New Amazon Store!Check out Binky’s Amazon Store!Notes
- Be sure to wash the heart thoroughly to remove all of the blood clots.
- Use a very sharp knife to remove the exterior membrane, fat cap, sinew, silverskin, veins, and arteries.
- Do not overcook the steaks, or they will become very tough and chewy. Cooking it to medium-rare (135°F/65°C) is suggested, but you could cook it to medium. Don’t cook it any hotter than 145°F/70°C.
